Willoughby magistrate sentenced in bribery case

Willoughby Municipal Court Magistrate Hector Martinez was sentenced Friday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to 25 hours of community service for his role in a witness bribery case.
Martinez, 43, of Willoughby, previously pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of obstructing official business.
He also was sentenced to 10 days in jail, which was suspended by Judge Nancy A. Fuerst.
“(Martinez) was the attorney for one of Thomas Castro’s victims and acted as the go-between between her and Anthony O. Calabrese III, texting her the bribe offer,” Joseph Frolik, spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, said in an email.
Castro, 35, of Cleveland, was accused of raping women. He was found guilty of gross sexual imposition after an August trial in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court and sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison.
Earlier this week, Avon Lake attorney Marc Doumbas, 45, and Cleveland attorney G. Timothy Marshall, 63, were each convicted by a jury of two counts of bribery for attempting to pay two victims to change their testimony against Castro.
Doumbas and Marshall were found guilty of offering a series of bribes totaling $150,000 to the two women. The attorneys asked the victims to change their testimony against Castro and ask the judge for leniency.
However, the women rejected the bribe money and testified against Castro, a convicted sex offender.
Doumbas and Marshall were each sentenced to one year in prison.
Calabrese, another attorney, was sentenced to 41/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to bribery and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
Castro also pleaded guilty to bribery, and has not yet been sentenced in that case.
Martinez could have been sentenced to a maximum 90 days in jail.
“He has been an excellent lawyer,” Willoughby Municipal Court Judge Harry Field said.
Field declined further comment.
Martinez’s lawyer, Roger Synenberg, was not immediately available for comment.